Family Vacations Are the Worst
by SpencerRemyLvr
Summary: Scott and Spencer are both getting a little too stressed at work, so their friends and family decide it's time for a vacation. Only, they should've realized that sending the three Summers brothers out on a vacation to the middle of nowhere with no technology was just a terrible idea. - Sequel to "What happened in Vegas"
1. Chapter 1

_Ok so originally this was going to be just a separate Summers brothers story, but I liked the idea of making it a sequel to Vegas even though Remy's not majorly featured in it. This story is finished all but the last chapter and a half, so don't worry about that. I'll be posting a chapter every few days just because I can. I hope y'all like it. Half of it was written AGES ago, and de end of it is written with me, or with K helping me write, so if the writing style changes just a little towards de ends that's why._

 _Enjoy, mes amies!_

* * *

"So why exactly are we going to bumfucked nowhere?"

The drawled out question from Alex Summers had Spencer shaking his head as he set his bag into the storage of the plane. This was definitely not the first time that Alex had whined or made some form of complaint since the destination of their vacation had been decided. Not because he actually had a protest as to where they were going or anything like that. No, it was more for the joy of being irritating. He succeeded now, earning him a cuff to the back of the head from Scott as the man went by. "Shut up, Alex. The trip hasn't even started yet. Don't start whining already."

"Good luck with that one." Spencer grumbled under his breath. His words earned him a cuff as well that had him glaring at Scott. "Hey! What'd you hit me for?"

"Don't grumble at him, you'll only encourage him to be worse." Scott answered.

Just barely did Spencer resist the urge to sigh. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and moved away from the plane. Alex was coming towards him, carrying a bag of supplies. When they passed one another, Alex deliberately bumped him, almost sending Spencer to the ground. The young genius steadied his feet and turned to snap out "Watch where you're going!"

Alex flashed him a grin before stuffing the bag in the plane. "I was watching, pidge. I watched as I ran into you and I watched as you stumbled."

Off to the side, Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and fought back the urge to yell at the two fools. Dropping his hand, he lifted his gaze to Logan. "It's going to be your fault if I come back missing a brother or two."

It had been a combined effort between Alex, Logan, Remy, Charles, Jean, and the BAU team to get these three brothers on a vacation of some sort. Scott had been running nonstop at the mansion between work for the X-men and the sudden influx of young mutants that seemed to be coming their way. He'd been working hard to make the school more of, well, more of a _school_ at the same time as trying to keep up his job training and leading his team.

Things at the BAU had been hectic lately for Spencer and his team, too. Case after case was wearing them all down and Spencer had been trying to take on some of that stress for his friends, helping to ease them with his empathy, which in turn was making the young genius even more exhausted than ever. So Penelope and Remy had taken it on themselves to contact the middle Summers brother and they enlisted his help in trying to get Spencer to go on a vacation away from home. The whole team was due to go on two weeks leave after they finished the case they were on and Remy had already made plans to do some work in that time and he didn't want Spencer to sit at home alone during that time. So he and Penelope had built this plan to get Spencer to take a break. Hence, calling Alex.

In turn, Alex had contacted Logan and so had started the plan. Remy, Alex and Penelope arranged things secretly on Spencer's end while Logan got Jean and Charles to help him arrange things on Scott's end and then they'd sprung it all on the two brothers. Everything was all set and ready to go and, though there were some token protests, everyone had been able to see that this was needed. Drastically needed. So the trio was heading out far away from civilization—Logan had been the one to choose the location—and they were going to spend a week with just one another. No work, no stress, no drama. Well, no drama but for the usual Summers family drama. Then they'd come back and Remy was going to meet them here at the mansion where they'd spend the last week of Spencer's vacation here, amongst friends they didn't often get to see.

"You guys are gonna be fine." Logan rumbled at him. He reached out, putting a hand on the back of Scott's neck. "You'll fight, you'll bitch, you'll bond and you'll come home more relaxed. Ya need the break, Slim. You know it. And spending time with them, even if ya fight, always relaxes ya."

Scott rolled his eyes behind his glasses though he knew the gesture wouldn't be able to be seen. "Still, Logan. Your cabin in Canada seems nice and all, but from what I hear it's far from civilization. The three of us enjoy one another's company, but stick us out there with nothing to do and someone's bound to end up injured."

"Someone always ends up injured anyways." A sharp grin flashed on Logan's face. "Think of it as a team bonding exercise."

Scott couldn't resist rolling his eyes again. "Go to hell." The words were said with just a hint of humor that took any sting out of them. All kidding aside, he was honestly looking forward to this trip so long as they could keep the fighting under control. He knew he needed this, Alex was grinning over it all like a child excited for Christmas, and one look at Spencer's stress lined face had convinced him their youngest needed this. Though Spencer grumbled that he'd much rather be at home with his husband, there was no denying the way he kept smiling at them.

All their bags were packed in the plane, supplies stowed away so they wouldn't have to worry about running to any stores or anything, and the trio was finally ready to go. It took a bit to pry Scott away from Logan, and to pry Spencer away from Remy. Those two were wrapped around one another like they weren't ever going to see each other again. Despite all the teasing the brothers liked to do, no one said anything about it as Remy and Spencer kissed one last time before they parted. Whatever words Remy whispered were low and meant for Spencer alone, and they made him blush.

There were goodbyes all around from those that had come to see them off and then they were in Scott's personal plane, strapping themselves in and preparing the plane to go. Scott took pilot seat while Alex was copilot. Behind them, Spencer settled into his seat. When they finally took off and were in the air, the two pilots focused on flight while the youngest curled up in his seat and decided to nap away the trip, each man blissfully unaware of what was waiting for them.

* * *

It was the tingling in his veins that woke Spencer from his sleep. The familiar crackling was running through him, tracing down his veins and through every inch of him, better than any drug he'd ever come across. Half asleep, he almost reached out for it. Almost tried to draw it down into himself. He ached to take that electricity out of the air and let it fill him from head to toe until he was the electricity and it was him. A sudden slap to the face jerked him out of those thoughts and brought him abruptly back to reality. His eyes snapped open and he had to blink a few times to clear his vision. When he did, he saw Alex turned in his seat, stretched to face him. It didn't take a genius to realize that Alex had been the one to slap him.

"Snap out of it!" Alex swore at him. He was watching Spencer's face and he could see the sparks in those electric eyes dancing. "You call that shit to you and you'll fry us!"

Spencer took a deep breath and nodded, not even bothering to deny it. He forced his shields up as tight as he could and looked out the plane's windows at the storm raging outside. "How'd we get stuck in this?" He managed to ask. The storm outside the plane looked pretty nasty. Lightning arced through the air—Spencer had to tighten his shields more to keep himself from moaning in longing over the sheer power of those strikes—and the clouds had become dark and thick.

A muttered curse from Scott came before the man answered him. "The hell if I know. One minute it was clear and the next the clouds were building. I tried to adjust our course but there was no getting around it. It didn't look this bad from the outside!"

A loud crash cut them off and a boom of thunder rumbled before there was yet another crash, this time at the back of the plane. There was barely time to register it before Spencer was flung sideways in his seat and the plane started to swirl. His head slammed into the side wall, almost but not quite knocking him out. He heard shouts from Alex and Scott, curses echoing around them and they were spinning, spinning, and Spencer had just the vague thought that _In all the ways I thought I'd die, a plane crash was never one of them_ and then _Remy is going to be so pissed_ before his head connected once more with the wall and everything around him went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_Holy shit. What the hell happened to me_? That was the first coherent thought Spencer had as he slowly woke. He felt like he'd been hit by a freight train. A low groan slid past his lips despite his best efforts to keep it in. There was another sound then that jerked Spencer back to consciousness faster than anything else could have. "Pidge?" Alex called out.

Reality came back in with a crash. Scott, Alex! They'd been in a plane, the storm, some kind of crash and then the plane spiraling out of control. Spencer's eyes snapped open and it took him a moment to see through the semi darkness. The plane. They were still in the plane. A quick look told him that they'd crashed. All around him was smoke and twisted metal and broken glass. Oh, God. The plane had crashed. Where were his brothers? Were they okay?"

"Pidge?"

That had Spencer jumping slightly. He'd forgotten he'd heard Alex's voice in the shock of seeing the wreckage they were in. Gathering energy, he forced himself to speak. "Here!" Wincing, he asked "Scott?"

"I got him." The grumbled words came from somewhere in front of him.

A sigh of relief slid out. Both brothers were alive. _Thank you, thank you_. Next step, figure out how to get the hell out of here. Spencer looked down at himself, mentally assessing his condition. At the same time, Alex called out "Stay where you are, I'm coming to you. How bad you hurt?"

"Could be worse." Spencer grunted out. He tried to lift one arm and had to fight back a wince. _Shoulder might be dislocated. Potential break in arm_ his brain supplied. Okay, next arm. He lifted that one and was successful; only a tiny ache. He reached for the buckle that still held him to the seat and tried to find the button to unhook it. He'd worry about the rest of him in a moment. "You two?"

There was some movement up ahead and a piece of metal shifted to reveal Alex. "Been hurt worse. Some cuts, bruises. Don't think anything's broken." Blood and sweat stained the man's face but Spencer could've sobbed for joy at seeing him. The seriousness of his look had Spencer's worry growing even more. "I got Scott outside already. I woke up first, got him out and propped up by a tree. The back end's on fire, pidge. We gotta move."

Spencer's hand scrambled faster at his belt. Alex moved enough to get toward him, knocking more things out of the way. The more he came into view, the more Spencer could see his injuries. Blood stained the stomach of his shirt and he was limping slightly. There were visible cuts on his arms and a wound on his head, most likely from hitting glass, but for the most part he looked like he'd gotten off pretty damn lucky. Alex was holding a knife in his hand that he used to reach out when he got close and cut Spencer's straps off. "Come on." Alex said gruffly. "Let me help you out. Lean on me."

There wasn't any real choice. Spencer's head spun as Alex helped him out of his seat and his body screamed at the movement, injuries protesting so loudly he couldn't tell what came from where. Willpower had him gritting his teeth and he trusted himself to Alex's hands, closing his eyes and following the low instructions until all of a sudden there was fresh air and another voice called out "Spence!"

Despite the aches in his legs, Spencer put one foot in front of the other, able to tell they were on solid ground now. He opened his eyes and saw Scott just ahead, leaning back against a tree. The first sight of his brother had him stumbling a little. Alex had to catch him and help steady him once more. "Scotty." The word was pulled from Spencer, aching slightly. His older brother looked horrible. There was blood on Scott's face, on his pants, on his shirt. Everywhere. Spencer's eyes quickly found the sources of quite a bit of it. Scott's left leg was definitely broken and there was a large cut in it. It looked like there was another on his chest and there were other cuts on his skin. The glass. That had to be from the glass. But by some merciful blessing, the man had his glasses on and they weren't broken. How the hell had they gotten so lucky?

When they got close, Alex started to lower him down but Spencer shook his head and stuck his good hand out on the tree. There was no time to sit down. Alex gave him a strange look. "Pidge, you need to sit so we can take a look at you. You're bleeding!"

"There's no time for that." Spencer said through gritted teeth.

"What? I'd say we've got all the damn time in the world. We're not exactly going anywhere fast!"

"No, he's right." Scott interrupted. His voice was low, with a hazy edge to it that showed he was in pain. "We've got to move, Alex. Now."

Alex looked between them with confusion. "What the hell are you guys talking about?"

Looking down, Spencer saw the same knowledge in Scott's face that he knew was in his. He took a deep breath and looked back at Alex. "That wasn't lightning that brought us down, Alex. I would've felt that."

"Someone shot at us." Scott added in. His head tipped back against the tree. "And whoever shot at us is probably going to try to make sure we didn't survive. We stay here and we're sitting ducks." He paused to draw in a few breaths, obviously trying to battle back pain. When he spoke again, there was just a hint of the old command in his voice. "Can you salvage any of our supplies off the plane? There's no telling where we are or what we'll need. There's a medical kit in there that's going to come in handy. Any bags with clothes too so we can make bandages."

Swearing lowly, Alex didn't waste any time, turning on his heel and racing toward the smoking plane. While he did that, Spencer took a few deep breaths, trying to get himself under control. His knee throbbed like a giant bruise, telling him he'd probably knocked it around some in the crash. There were so many other parts of him that throbbed and stung and told him his brothers weren't the only ones hurt. For the moment he pushed that back and made himself focus on Scott. _As Alex would say—this is going to suck._ "Come on, let's get you on your feet. You think you can stand?"

"I'll stand, but I make no promises on how well."

Snorting, Spencer braced his legs and reached out to take Scott's hand. It took quite a lot of swearing, sweat, pain, and more effort than either would've liked to admit to get Scott upright. But eventually the two were both on their feet, practically leaning against one another and the tree as they panted and tried to keep from passing out. When they were both breathing normally, Scott reached a hand up toward the arm Spencer had curled against his chest. "How bad?"

"It's nothing." Spencer insisted. Now that Scott was upright, Spencer wasn't liking all the blood he could see. "We need to wrap you before you bleed everywhere."

Scott shook his head, wheezing a little. "Not here…gotta get away first. Gotta find shelter…before dark."

The worst part was, Spencer knew he was right. But how far could they all travel like this? How well could they move while injured? Scott wasn't going to be able to walk well with his leg the way it was and Spencer only had one good hand to work with and Alex had been limping and there was the blood on the stomach of his shirt that suggested he was injured there. They were one hell of a set right now, each of them beaten and bleeding. But they had not a damn choice in this. They had to move, now, before anything more happened.

As if to prove his thoughts true, Spencer felt something just on the edge of his shields. He spun, eyes scanning around him, senses reaching to try and find out where it was coming from. Alex emerged from the plane, bags slung over his arm and in his hands, and Spencer felt a burst of satisfaction and glee that didn't come from Alex and he shouted " _Run_!"

Alex shot forward at the command just in the nick of time; gunfire spat across the ground where he'd been moments before. With the storm still above them, Spencer drew on the electricity in the air, sending a bolt in the direction of the gunfire. He didn't hit anyone but it provided the perfect cover for Alex to reach them. He and Spencer both grabbed on Scott, slinging his arms over their shoulders so that they held him up on either side and they started moving as fast as they could. Spencer sent another bolt of lightning behind them and then another, hoping to cover them as best as he could. Voices shouted and more guns fired, bullets whizzing past them.

"Over here!" Alex snapped out, yanking them to the left. The trio practically fell behind the rocks Alex took them to, dropping down out the line of fire. Alex dropped their bags down and Spencer saw his bag on the top. He was helping to settle Scott down, so he couldn't reach for it. "Alex, my bag." He said quickly. "My gun's in there."

Alex grabbed the bag and dug inside, yanking out Spencer's gun. Instead of handing it over, he checked to make sure it was loaded and then crouched low at the edge of the rock. "Give me some cover. Then drive them toward the plane."

This wasn't the time to argue. Alex was the better shot and they both knew it, not to mention he was the most mobile of them right now. This was the smart way to play it. Rising up, Spencer gathered energy. He couldn't send a blast from where he was without drawing all gunfire at him, so he called another lightning bolt, snapping one, two, three down into the ground near where it sounded like the guns were firing from. With those for cover, Alex raced out from behind the rock, darting into the slowly darkening forest. Spencer set up a quick prayer for the man and then focused on himself and Scott.

Scott braced a hand on the rock and tried to leverage himself up some. "Damn the man. Where the hell does he think he's going?"

"Get down!" Spencer hissed, shoving at Scott's shoulder. "You're in no condition to be upright."

"The hell with that! Get me in the right direction. I can still help with defense till Alex does whatever stupid thing he's doing."

Shoving once more at Scott's shoulder, Spencer pushed back his own fear and worries for Alex and focused instead on doing his part. "I said get down, Scott!" The snap to his words had Scott actually listening, surprise radiating from him. Spencer ignored it and drew himself up again, using his extra senses more than his eyes. Between his sense of electricity and his empathy, he easily mapped out in his head the bodies that were near enough for him to feel. Alex said to drive them toward the plane; mapping out their locations, Spencer readied energy and prepared to do just that. He waited for a break in gunfire and then he rose, taking the energy he'd gathered and pushing it out in one giant burst, knocking the bodies back, sending them flying toward the clearing. He heard gunfire and saw two men go down. Seven more were rising from the ground, recovering from his blast. Spencer sent out blasts of energy from his hand, firing them at the ground, driving the men further and further back. He saw a blast hit the ground that he recognized as one of Alex's.

The seven men were in the clearing, right by the wreckage, and Spencer heard Alex shout out "The plane! Hit the plane!" and he knew what his brother had planned. Spencer fought back the nausea that rose at the idea of what he was about to do, reminding himself that friendlies didn't come after them with assault rifles and these men wanted them dead, and then he called a bolt of lightning from the sky and sent it right into the plane, praying Alex got to cover in time. There was a loud boom and that was all Spencer heard as his body slipped down the rock to crumple on the ground.

* * *

When he came to once more, hands were yanking him up off the ground and he could hear a familiar angry voice demanding that he get up, move, move! Spencer reacted instinctively, his legs trying to move before his eyes were fully open. He tripped and stumbled and was jerked back upright once more. Sound cleared again and he could understand the voice yelling at him and knew it was Alex. "Come on, dammit. Move, pidge! That's going to be a hell of a beacon for anyone miles around and I sure as hell don't plan on being here when they get here! Move!"

Spencer forced his eyes open and made himself start to move. He yanked away from Alex's arm, adrenaline waking him up faster than an entire pot of coffee and much quicker too. When bags were thrust at him, he slung them on his good shoulder without complaint. He took one look and saw Scott trying to limp forward and he rushed to him, darting down under his arm and going to support him, Alex moving to Scott's other side until they were carrying him like they'd been doing before. With fire and smoke rising behind them and rain—when had it started raining? It hadn't been raining before!—falling faster and faster, the three men took off into the trees.

Here in this dense forest Spencer was far out of his element and he knew it. Because of that, he let Alex direct their course, though he doubted Alex really knew where the hell they were going either. The trio stumbled their way along, not even talking in their effort to try and save their breath. It was taking all their energy to simply walk. They kept alert as they moved, listening for the sounds of anyone coming after them. How long they moved, Spencer wasn't sure. Best guess, he figured maybe a half an hour, maybe a little more. But suddenly in the break of the trees he saw something just ahead. Shelter! "Look!" he gasped out. It looked like an old barn of some sort, half falling apart. It looked like Heaven.

When they got close, the trees thinned out and they were going to have to be in the open to get to the barn doors. "Spence." Scott's voice was low and strained, just barely there. "You sense anyone? Anyone at all?"

It took more concentration than normal for Spencer to push out his senses. After feeling for a moment, he shook his head. "Nothing but a few little things I'd guess are animals round and about."

"Then let's move. It's our best defense to hide and plan."

"No shit?" Alex quipped breathily. Even he was sounding out of breath from their walk. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

Scott grunted as his leg slid over the ground and his face lost a little more color. "Fuck off, Alex."

"What would your students think if they heard you swearing?"

The breathless bickering continued as they closed the last bit of distance between them and the barn. Alex broke away long enough to get the door open and then they limped inside. Spencer couldn't help his relief as they got inside of the walls. Maybe it wasn't the perfect shelter and maybe everything in the world had gone to shit but they were out of the rain and in a place they could plan and they were all alive. At the moment, that would have to be enough.


	3. Chapter 3

Alex was the one to find them a mostly empty stall with no leaks above it. After spreading out a blanket from one of the packs, they got Scott in and lying down. From another bag Alex pulled out a flashlight, setting it on the ground and letting it shine into the stall, making sure it wouldn't shine out any cracks to outside. They didn't want to give away their location but they needed to see to assess injuries. Even being the most injured, Scott still tried to take charge. "Alex, there should be…another flashlight. Take it and…go look for…a lantern maybe. Any supplies at all…."

"As you command, oh Fearless Leader." With that smart ass reply, Alex grabbed the other flashlight and darted out of the stall.

Spencer started to dig through the few bags they had, taking inventory of their things. He tossed all the clothes to the side in a pile; those would be needed for bandages and to keep them warm. One bag had non-perishable food that he set off on the other side. The last bag held medical supplies. This was the one he needed. He started to sift through it just as Scott said "Spence…report. Injuries?"

"Your leg is obviously broken. I'll get a good look at it in a minute. You've got a cut on your chest I'm worried about and other cuts I'll clean. I've got to check for glass, too, on both you and Alex. My guess is the windshield shattered on impact." He found the pair of medical scissors and pulled them out. Good. First and foremost he'd cut away clothes from what he needed to look. Then he could start figuring out what to treat first. He scooted across the ground toward Scott, pulling the bag with him. "How the hell you landed us without killing us, I've got no idea. I knocked out once we started spinning."

Scott's head dropped back on the makeshift cloth pillow they'd given him. "I'm just…that good. But I wasn't asking…about me…"

Of course Spencer knew that. However, he was trying to avoid talking about himself. "Alex looks a little cut up and he's limping. I'm not really sure how badly he's hurt, at least not until I can get a look at him. We've all been running off of an adrenaline rush." As he spoke, Spencer forced his bad arm to move so he could take his hand and grab Scott's pant leg. With his other hand he held the scissors and started to cut upwards. "An adrenaline rush is the fight or flight response of the adrenal gland, in which it releases adrenaline. When releasing adrenaline, your body releases dopamine which can act as a natural painkiller, explaining how we were able to travel so long without seriously feeling the pain of it. An adrenaline rush causes the muscles to perform respiration at an increased rate, in turn improving strength. It also works with the nervous system to interpret impulses that trigger selective glands…"

"I know what…an adrenaline rush is, Spencer." Scott cut in.

Alex chose that moment to come walking back over, his light coming down on Scott's leg as it was revealed. "He just likes to show off, Scott, you know that."

Spencer didn't even look up to tell Alex "Shut up." His eyes were locked on Scott's leg and the damage there. As he'd thought, Scott's leg was definitely broken. It was obvious in the way his calf bulged up in one spot. Thankfully, the bone hadn't broken through the skin. But above it, on his thigh, there was a long gash. When Spencer got Scott's shirt cut as well, they could see the long gash over his stomach. That would need to be stitched. It was still bleeding sluggishly. Spencer cursed mentally and turned back toward his bag. He found basic medical supplies and survival items as well as some extras that most people wouldn't think to pack in a kit. Alex was shining the light in the bag for him and he let out a weak sounding laugh. "Bless your anal retentiveness, Scott. Who knew it'd come in handy one day?"

"Go…fuck yourself…."

The first thing Spencer dug out was the little plastic container he'd known would be at the bottom. One thing he knew Scott didn't travel without just in case of emergency. Morphine. Most people might consider that something crazy to travel with but for Scott it was a necessity. With the migraines he could get without warning, sometimes morphine was the only thing that could ease them and he had to have it on hand. Spencer opened up the little kit and found the bottle and needles just as they always were. He carefully started to prep the dose he would need. "Scotty, I'm going to give you some morphine." He explained as he worked. Before Scott could fully form his protest, Spencer kept going. "There's not a lot and we don't know how long we're going to be here, so I can't knock you out like I want, but I can give you enough to ease this. Trust me, you're going to need it. The wound on your stomach needs stitches and so does the one on your leg. Plus, we're going to have to end up setting your leg. Now, I'm going to give you some now to get through the stitches and I'll give you just a little more when we're done with your leg. Are you ready?"

"Just…do it…"

Spencer pulled Scott's arm out and set about using an alcohol wipe from the kit to sterilize the area. It was easy enough for him to find the vein and to slip the needle into Scott's skin. Once he was done, he stored his items. "We'll give that a minute to settle in. While we wait…" He turned toward Alex. "Be honest with me, Alex. How bad?"

Alex didn't bother pretending not to understand. "Some butterfly tape, a little bandaging, and I should be okay. I might need a few stitches in the one on my hip but I can survive with tape if I need to. Might've twisted an ankle getting Scott out of the plane. Otherwise, my head's killing me and I'm tired as hell but good. He landed us as safely as he could." His eyes moved up to lock on Spencer's face. "What about you? And no lies, pidge."

A grimace crossed Spencer's face. "My knee is swollen a little, I slammed my head a few times, and I'm pretty damn sure my arm's broken. Get me a sling and I'll be good to go. You find any supplies?" He avoided mentioning the ache in his ribs or the injuries he'd already carried before they even started this trip. There was no point in mentioning them and worrying Alex even more.

Shaking his head, Alex sat down and started to strip out of his shirt. To the side, Scott looked almost asleep, the morphine obviously moving through him. Spencer had given him enough to dull him down and was using his empathy to do the rest, pushing at Scott's exhaustion to try to get his body to sleep a little. Hissing as his shirt stuck, Alex finally got it over his head. "Some dry wood over there we might be able to make a fire if we need to. It's pouring like crazy out there and I think we might be able to risk a fire for a bit without worrying too much for smoke. If they're smart, they'll take shelter too."

"We can't count on that." Spencer argued. He pulled out gauze and tape while Alex settled down next to him. For the next few minutes, things were quiet as Spencer used a spare shirt to wipe away blood and then he used butterfly tape where he could before bandaging the cuts Alex had. One on his chest was long but it was shallow and Spencer taped gauze over it. The one on his hip could do with a few stitches as Alex had said but they had minimal thread and they both knew Scott needed it more. So Spencer put butterfly tape on that one as well and then taped gauze over it. He also gave Alex a couple of the basic pain reliever they had in the kit. "Just be careful with it and you should be okay."

"I'm good. Worry about Scooter there. What do you need me to do?"

"I need water. I can heat the needles on my own to sterilize them but I'll need water to clean with as I work. Then just…just hold him down."

Alex took a few of the water bottles from the food bag and brought them over; they could always refill them in the rain. He set them out beside Spencer and then helped set out what Spencer would need while the young genius gathered just minimal energy, letting it heat his fingers and in turn heat the needle he held, sterilizing it

Eventually, they had everything ready. Alex straddled Scott's chest, facing towards his older brother's face, and he pinned Scott's wrists to the ground. Scott was just barely awake, slightly hazy from the drugs. Spencer took a deep breath and forced his hands not to shake as he moved towards Scott's stomach. It was now or never. With that bracing thought, he got to work.

The next thirty minutes were minutes in his life Spencer never again wanted to have to repeat. He had lived through horrible moments, seen some horrible things in his line of work, and he'd experienced things he never wanted to again. Yet in that moment none of them ranked anywhere near this. The morphine and Spencer's empathy helped to take away some of the pain but not all of it. Scott fought hard to keep still and not to scream yet his skin was being sewed without anesthetic and they couldn't risk giving him more morphine when he would most likely burn it out while they finished working. The worst came when it was time to set the bone in Scott's leg. They gave the man a rag to bite on and Spencer and Alex braced his body down and then Spencer used his knowledge from books and what he'd learned from Hank and he got the bone set back into place. The scream Scott let out, though muffled, would haunt Spencer's dreams for a long time.

After that, Alex found some spare wood and they made a splint, wrapping it around Scott's leg. Then Alex used some wood and some cloth and made a makeshift prop so that Scott could lean against it. Alex and Spencer took the rest of Scott's wet clothes and took them off, putting him in some of the spare clothes they had with them that were still dry in the pack. Once he was dressed, Spencer and Alex changed as well, Spencer making sure to be discreet so that none of his injuries would be visible, and then they took the rest of the wet things and draped them over the edge of the stall to dry out. Spencer gave Scott the next dose of morphine and used his empathy to draw off more of Scott's pain; discreetly, of course. Eventually, the man drifted. Whether into sleep or unconsciousness, Spencer didn't know, but he was grateful either way. He sagged down beside his brother, beyond exhausted from what he'd done and from his earlier use of energy.

Alex brought a couple of their blankets over, laying one over Spencer and one over Scott. "Kip it with him for a bit, pidge. I'll take first guard shift."

There really was no hope in arguing it. Spencer's body was just too beat. So, curled against Scott's side, he let himself drift into a fitful sleep.

* * *

When Spencer woke later, it was to the feel of a hand running over his hair. He blinked slowly, gathering his bearings. There was no disorientation this time as he woke; he knew where he was and he knew what had happened to them. In the dark, he vaguely saw the form of Alex at the front of their little stall, standing silent guard over them. The hand in his hair continued to stroke and Spencer shifted, realizing that it meant that Scott was awake. Quickly he groped for his flashlight, wanting to check on his brother and—though he wouldn't admit it out loud or really even to himself—he needed something to chase back some of the dark.

The glow of the light filled the stall and Spencer had to blink a few more times to adjust to the light. Once he did, he looked towards Scott's face, trying to read the lines there. He reached out, feeling Scott's pain and exhaustion as well as his worry. "How're you feeling, Scotty?"

"Been better. Been worse, too." Scott said with a small grin. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Bout time the two of you woke. Been out for, oh, I'd guess a few hours now." Alex called out in a low voice.

A few hours? Spencer knew that Alex, like Scott, had a kind of uncanny knack for time. He trusted his brother's judgment on how much had passed. Scott would be due for another shot, then. Sitting up more, Spencer reached for the bag. "How's your pain level, Alex?"

"I'm fine." Alex reassured him easily. "I popped a few more aspirin a bit ago, so I'm doing good. Headache's mostly gone."

There was no real need to ask how Scott's was. Spencer could feel it. He pulled out the morphine and started to prepare another dose. Scott reached out, taking hold of his arm. "Just a little one, Spence. I want to stay awake. Trust me, I can handle it. Just give me half of what you did before."

Half would keep him awake while still tapering the pain down. After a moment, Spencer nodded. When he had it ready, he turned toward Scott's arm which his brother held out at the ready for him. It took only a moment to distribute the medicine. Then he was taking it back and cleaning it before putting it away. "Any sign of trouble?" He asked Alex while he finished putting things away.

"Not so far." He shifted a little, allowing him to watch the door and look toward them at the same time. "Any clue who the fuckers are?"

Groaning a little as he shifted, Scott adjusted on his 'bed'. "I didn't think to stop and ask who sent them. There are quite a few people who'd want any one of us dead and gone. Well, not Sherlock here so much."

"Our goody-two-shoes." Alex said mockingly.

Using the flashlight to make sure the man saw it, Spencer flipped him off. Then he turned back toward Scott. "I don't think the who or why matters so much right now. What we should figure out is how we're going to get out of here. Did any of you bring a cell phone?" When both men shook their heads, Spencer raised his eyebrows. "Are you serious? My technology loving brothers went technology free? Really?"

"Logan stole our phones." Scott said with a wry grin. "He said he was going to make sure no one could get a hold of us to call us back home."

Alex snorted. "Remind me to kick his ass for that when we get back."

"Well what about radios?" Spencer pressed. "Did you grab the radio or anything from the plane when you got our bags? Anything that we can use to contact someone for help?"

"I didn't exactly have time to dig around, pidge." Alex's voice was just a little defensive. "I was kind of in pain and trying to hurry back to you fucks before trouble came."

Well, wasn't it just one good piece of news after another? Spencer sighed and leaned back against the stall wall, stretching his aching leg out in front of him. "So, let me sum this up and see if I've got it all. Someone we don't know shot us out of the sky and then, once on ground, proceeded to try to fill us full of bullets. Now we're stuck in some random falling apart barn in the middle of who knows where while it's pouring outside. We've got minimal supplies, nothing even resembling a radio, and one gun. No one is going to be looking for us because we're supposed to be gone for the next week, so there isn't even help to be looking for. Did I get everything?"

"Nope." Amusement danced in Alex's voice. "You forgot that I'm minimally gimpy, Scott's down a leg, and you're down an arm and are also gimpy. _Now_ we've got it all."

"Gee thanks, Alex. That was ever so helpful."

"Anytime, pidge."

"Shut up, you two." Scott said the words without any real heat. "I at least might know where we were. Last I remember before we started to go down, we were over Washington. Best guess, using our last coordinates, we've most likely landed somewhere in the Wenatchee National Forest."

Numbers instantly slid into Spencer's head and then past his lips. "The Wenatchee National Forest is an area of 1,735,394 acres and it extends about 137 miles along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range of Washington from Okanogan National Forest to Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The forest is located in Chelan, Kittitas and Yakima counties. That's quite a lot of area, Scott. And we have no way of pinpointing exactly where we are."

"Well we're gonna have to do something cause sitting around here aint gonna get us nowhere." Alex pointed out. "It's almost dawn, though. Going out in daylight aint the best plan. I say we rest up and lay low through the day and come nightfall, we set out and try to find our way to some road or some kind of civilization where we can put in a call back home for help."

It was really their only plan. Going out in daylight would be suicide if people were still after them. Staying here could be trouble as well but here at least they had some form of protection. Out there, they'd be out in the open and someone could pick them off before they even saw it coming. "It's our best shot." Scott finally agreed.

Slowly, carefully, Spencer moved his legs and pushed himself up off the ground. Once he had his feet, he took a second to steady himself and to work around the ache in his knee. He looked over at the clothes and then at Alex. "Help me make a quick sling and then I'll take next watch. I'm not going to be able to sleep any more right now." Together, the two moved over towards the clothes. Alex quickly found one the right size and he used his knife to cut the material enough that he could make a makeshift sling out of it. As he helped Spencer get his arm situated in it, the young genius took advantage of their closeness to speak in a low voice that Scott couldn't hear. "Keep an eye on him. We need to get him out fast. We'll be lucky if infection doesn't settle in to the wound in his stomach. Keep an eye on it and make sure he doesn't start running a fever. The morphine is going to dull any ache he'll have there so he won't be able to tell us if it hurts more. That means we need to be vigilant."

"Got it." Alex murmured back while tying the material behind Spencer's neck. "Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes and ears on him."

"Good." Breathing carefully to try and ride out the pain, Spencer adjusted his sling, making sure he was comfortable. Then he took his gun from Alex. "I'm going to wander a bit. I know you checked things out before but I want to see if there's something I can use to maybe work like a radio."

Alex gave him a grin that was strained compared to normal. "Just be careful there, MacGyver."

Confusion had Spencer wrinkling his forehead. "What did you call me?"

A real, honest laugh came not only from Alex, but from Scott as well. "Nothing, pidge. I'll explain it later."

Shaking his head over the strangeness of his brother, Spencer made his way out of the stall while Alex settled in beside Scott.


	4. Chapter 4

The early dawn hours went by without incident. The sun rose and Spencer watched as the old barn filled with a murky sort of light. Outside, the rain was still coming down, harder than before. In a way, that was a good thing, making conditions miserable for anyone who was hunting them and offering a better cover for them. At the same time, it made it a hell of a lot colder for them as well and they didn't dare risk a fire. It was hard to gauge how much time passed but eventually Spencer made his way back over to his brothers, taking a moment to check them. Scott's leg looked as well as could be expected, but on his stomach there was just a tiny bit more heat than Spencer would've liked.

"How's it looking, Doctor?" Scott's teasing voice startled Spencer and had his head jerking up. He hadn't realized that Scott was awake again.

Recovering, Spencer put the bandage back over Scott's stomach and pulled the cloth back over it. "Seems to be doing okay so far. You feel up to eating or drinking a little, Scotty? We need to get some fluids in you and keep you hydrated. You lost a lot of blood."

"Mm. Food." Alex mumbled from where he was against Scott's side. He'd started out close; keeping him warm, as Spencer had heard Alex insist to Scott quietly when he'd settled in. Sometime during his sleep he'd ended up curled perfectly against Scott's side. Seeing it now made Spencer's lips quirk. No matter how big he or Alex got, Scott was always their big brother/father figure and even in sleep, their bodies recognized him and the safety that usually came with him.

Stretching, Spencer snagged a bag with provisions in it, pulling it close. He kept himself on alert while he dug in the bag, allowing his shields to be low enough to feel around him just in case someone came up on their barn. First things first, he pulled out a bottle of water and passed it to Alex, who was slowly sitting up. He also passed out some aspirin to his brother, but not before taking a couple himself. He definitely needed it. "Start out with this. Small mouthfuls, guys. Even with the rain, let's conserve water. As for food, well, we're limited as we can't really cook anything. So we've got a few cans of beans, some canned fruit, some trial mix and dried fruit and some jerky, it looks like."

"Jerky."

The dual vote made Spencer smile just a little. It had been his vote as well, so it worked well. He pulled the bag out and opened it, taking a few pieces for himself before passing it along. Alex settled down with his, stretching one leg out in front of him and curling the other up so he could rest his arm on his knee. It put him against the wall and allowed him to look at both brothers. He took a few small drinks from the water before passing it to Scott. "So…seeing as how we're stuck here for the day and all…why don't we play a game?"

"A game?" One of Spencer's eyebrows went up. "Seriously? You want to play some kind of game right now?"

"You got any better idea on passing the time?" Alex fired back. "Or were you just looking to sit here in silence until we go insane?"

"You're already insane."

"Yeah, well, I'm also older than you and that means I win this argument by default. We're gonna play a game."

Mouth dropping open, Spencer gaped at him. "Age does not qualify you to win an argument!"

"But it does for me." Scott interjected. When they both turned to stare at him, he gave them a smug smile, taking one last drink of water before handing it to Spencer. "As the oldest, I'm in charge here. And I think I agree with Alex. We've got to do something to pass the time. Why not play a game? It might be interesting. This was supposed to be a week of 'bonding' anyways."

These two were utterly ridiculous. Trapped out in the middle of nowhere, injured, being hunted by maniacs with guns, and they wanted to play _games._ With a roll of his eyes, Spencer scooted back and settled against the back wall, pulling some of the extra clothes over his legs like blankets. "Fine, fine." He knew when he'd lost. "What game are we playing?"

"What about two truths and a lie?" Alex suggested. Catching Spencer's look, he explained "When it's your turn, you say three things about yourself. Two of which are true and one of which is a lie. It's our job to guess which one is the lie. We make our guess and you tell us if we're right or not. We take turns and each one of us does it."

"That one's better in big groups and Spence is too good at bluffing. What about twenty questions?" Scott suggested instead. "We'll take turns, two of us asking the other twenty questions. I've played that with friends before; it can be a lot of fun." Lifting a hand, he patted the spot beside him. "Come sit by me, Sherlock. We'll put Alex in the hot seat first."

The idea of that was amusing enough that Spencer made his way over to Scott and sat down in the spot suggested. It also allowed him to scoot close, giving and taking body heat, making both him and Scott just a little warmer. Spencer took the two survival blankets that Alex had given them the night before and adjusted one so it was over the both of them. The other he lifted and tossed to Alex, who took it with a smile and tucked it around himself. All situated, the three brothers started their game.

Playing was much more fun than Spencer had thought it would be. Between one another, he and Scott came up with fun questions, asking Alex some of the strangest things. They asked him some normal ones, such as his favorite memory, or who his first love was. Scott asked him about his worst date. That one had the three of them laughing. "It was a horror from start to finish." Alex told them with a shake of his head. "First the chick managed to stumble against me and instead of me catching her all gallant like, I of course hit the edge of the curb and the both of us toppled down to the ground. Thank God I managed to not fall _on_ her. Then I took her to Giuseppe's…" that was a restaurant the three of them knew in California that they'd often went to when they were visiting Spencer at school. It was a Mom and Pop place that didn't even have a menu. You just ate what you were given and they were never once disappointed. "…and Mama Giuseppe brought us the most delicious meatloaf and potatoes. About halfway through, the chick breaks out in hives and starts hyperventilating .We had to call an ambulance and rush her to the ER. Apparently she was allergic to onions. So yeah, I'd say sending my date into anaphylactic shock qualifies as the worst date ever for me."

There had been other questions too, ones that had surprised them. They found out that Alex first had sex at age twenty, something that was absolutely shocking. The way he'd talked, they'd always assumed it had been at a younger age. "Yeah, well, shut up." Alex grumbled, flushing a little. "I wasn't just gonna bang any chick that batted her eyes at me. Shit. I like a little danger, but we were mostly around army brats like us and those chicks aren't just dangerous, their dads are too. I like danger, not sudden death."

By the time their twenty questions were done with, the three of them were all smiling and they definitely felt much more relaxed than when they started. By unanimous agreement, they took a break then. Together the two less injured got Scott up to his feet and they made their slow, painstaking way down to the other end of the barn, not wanting to step outside but needing some place to take care of some business. Alex was the only one that needed no assistance whatsoever to do what needed done. The two had to help Scott to a spot by the wall so he could hold on to the edge to prop himself up and Alex stayed behind hm, looking the other way, to help make sure he stayed balanced. The only help Spencer needed was someone to undo the front of his pants and then, once he was done and came back over, do them up for him.

That finished, the three carefully made their way back to the other end and into their little secluded shelter. Without a word, Alex and Spencer came to an agreement. Spencer checked Scott over and gave him his next dose of medicine while Alex took the gun and ran a quick perimeter check. Moving around so much had tuckered Scott a little and combined with the morphine, it didn't take much before he went to sleep. Secure with Alex watching, Spencer took advantage and cat napped a little as well, passing a few more hours.

By the time it was early afternoon, all three boys were awake and settled in once more, bundled under their survival blankets to try and stay warm as the temperature seemed to drop a little with the increase in the storm outside. Soon enough, they'd have to build a fire whether they liked it or not. To distract them from the growing cold, Alex brought their game back up, declaring it was someone else's turn now. With a grin, he looked over to Spencer. "Your turn, pidge. Oh, this is gonna be fun."

Spencer might've protested typically, but a look at Scott and he bit that protest back. Their eldest wasn't looking his best. Even after napping, he still looked drained and he was definitely paler than he had been. He needed medical attention; something better than Spencer's random medical knowledge. Even if he had practice, these conditions weren't ideal and the chance of infection was extremely likely. It made Spencer wish that anyone else were with them. Logan would be able to handle this whole thing better. He was a survivalist; he'd know what to do out here. Or Remy. He might not be a survivalist, or a country boy in any way, but his presence alone would make Spencer more comfortable. Absently, Spencer spun his ring around his finger as a way to seek out the connection to his husband.

The best thing they could do for Scott aside from what they were already doing was make sure to keep his spirits up. So, because of that, Spencer made himself give a smile he didn't feel and say "Bring it on."

The grin Alex gave was just a little devilish. "We'll start out easy. What's your favorite childhood memory?"

"Visiting with you two." Spencer said promptly. There was no real specific moment that he could pick. Most all of his good childhood memories involved visiting with these two.

Alex grinned at him. "Sap."

They stuck with a few more simple questions after that, things that Spencer had no problem answering. If he'd thought about it, he would've realized that they were lulling him into complacency before getting to what they considered the 'interesting' things. But on question ten, Scott finally upped it a little, asking him "Okay, your turn for this one, Sherlock. How old were _you_ when you first had sex?"

Everything inside of Spencer suddenly seemed to freeze. "I…what?"

"Sex, pidge." Alex joked. Humor twinkled in his eyes. "And since you lean towards the men in life, it's a double ended question. The first time you gave and the first time you got. Come on now, I answered mine. It's your turn. If you even have yet." His grin grew a little. "If not, it's totally cool. You know, we won't tease you or anything. Much."

He couldn't answer this. There was no way he could answer this. But this was part of the game and he couldn't just break the rules and he couldn't lie to them. He wouldn't lie. But if he refused to answer, they'd know something was up. This was a lose/lose situation here. _This is why you shouldn't have agreed to play! Stupid, stupid, stupid._ All of this ran through Spencer's mind in the blink of an eye. Looking down at his lap, he tried to keep his voice normal as he said "Can I take a pass on this one?"

"Nope." Alex answered cheerfully.

Closing his eyes, Spencer drew in a breath, resigning himself to what was about to happen. "The first time I was on the giving end, I was thirteen." He started out. "With… with Jesse." That was enough to stop that part of the conversation. They all knew who that was. Images popped up behind his eyes and he forced them open to stare down at his hands. Maybe if he was quiet, they'd just move on to the next question and he wouldn't have to answer the other part of it. He really, really didn't want to get into this and he really, really didn't want to do it here of all places.

Scott's voice was quiet, yet no less powerful for its quietness. "Spencer, you still have to answer the second half of that question. How old were you when you were on the receiving end?"

The way Scott said that told Spencer that his discomfort hadn't gone unnoticed and Scott was already making assumptions. He had no choice; it was either tell the truth or run damage control. But before he could even form words, something tugged at the edge of his senses and he snapped to attention. He heard Alex start to say something and he barked out a quick "Sh!" His eyes unfocused and he extended his senses out, trying to feel what it was and where it was coming from. Three different people, it felt like. Coming closer. Shit.

Spencer's eyes focused once more and the intense look he gave the others told them clearer than words that trouble was coming. Spencer shifted his weight into a crouch, ignoring the pain in his knee. "Give the gun to Scott." He whispered as quietly as possible. "Then you, with me. There are three of them. If we can stop them once they get in, we might be able to get some answers."

After only a brief hesitation, Alex nodded. He handed Scott the gun, helping the older man adjust to better sit up while Spencer yanked their clothes off the edge of the stall to try and make it less obvious they were there. Scott easily took the gun and held it steady in his hand, ready to raise it if need be. His expression was firm. "We're not done with this conversation, Spencer." He warned.

A grimace crossed Spencer's face. "Goody." The word was so low he doubted they heard him. Then he turned his whole focus over to silently slipping out of the stall with Alex beside him. Spencer kept his senses open a little to mark the movement of the three 'sparks'—it was the only way he could think to describe them; an emotional and electrical spark in his head—and to track where they were coming to. With one hand he gestured toward the door they would come to. They needed the three men to get inside before they nabbed them. There was less of a risk of someone else further away seeing or hearing something and coming running.

Stepping close to Alex, Spencer made his voice as low as he could to whisper "I found a rope earlier down there at the end. You take one end and I'll take the other. Once they're in, pull tight with me. Not only will we trip them, I'll charge it and shock them too. You be ready to come out and subdue, because it'll probably only stun them. I try to knock them out, that many, and I could end up killing them."

"Got it." Alex whispered back. None of their usual joking bickering was present. This was serious and they treated it that way. They raced down to the end, getting either end of the rope and laying it out on the ground just a little bit in from the door. Spencer kicked some dirt over it before hurrying toward his end. Taking up the end of the rope in his hand, he crouched down and pressed back against the wall, using an old table to hide himself a little. Across the way from him, Alex was sheltered by an open stall door, waiting.

It only took a moment before the barn door opened. They'd tried to keep the rope back enough to let all three get in before using it but close enough that hopefully they wouldn't notice it until it was too late. But only two of the men moved forward first, the third staying just slightly behind them. All three were dressed in hunting clothes that might've made Spencer think twice if it wasn't for the giant knives one held and the M16's the other two had. The two that were in the front held the guns. Spencer held his breath, waiting to see how close they would get. _Come on, come on, just a little closer. Just a bit more and I can get you all._

One of the men looked down and Spencer knew by that look that it was now or never. Gathering a charge, he ran it down the rope at the same time that he jerked it up and toward the men. Alex jerked his end taunt as well and with one move, they not only tripped the two with guns, but jolted them as well. Alex was already jumping out as the two hit the ground, heading straight to the guy with the knives. Spencer couldn't indulge in his fear on that; he had his own job to do. As quickly as he could he moved to the two men still trying to recover on the ground. He didn't allow himself to hesitate for a single second, knowing that these men were not here to play nice. He dove straight to them, ignoring the pain in his broken arm, and grabbed a hold of each one. That was all he needed; a touch. With that touch, he charged each hand and jolted the two men, knocking them unconscious. Then he quickly took their guns. Just as he was straightening, he heard Alex swear loudly and he jerked his head up to see his brother darting back a step, his bicep bleeding profusely, the man with the knives grinning at him.

Spencer shoved to his feet, using everything he had to push back the pain that now screamed over his arm. With one hand he gathered a ball of energy, holding it there. At the same time, the man seemed to sense the trouble behind him and he turned to look. That gave Alex just enough of an advantage to dart forward and, with a fist to the face, he sent the man toppling to the ground.

For a moment the two brothers stood and stared at one another. Then Spencer rose, passing the guns to Alex. "You take these. I'll get the rope. Let's get them tied before they wake."


	5. Chapter 5

They separated the three, putting each one in a different stall, and searched each one. To their surprise, not a one of them had a cell phone or, hell, even a com link. Alex was still talented at his rope work; he tied each one of them tight enough that Spencer knew they weren't going to get free. Then, once they were sure the men were secured, they hurried to their stall to let Scott know they were okay and so Spencer could look at Alex's arm.

"What the hell happened?" Scott demanded when he saw the blood on Alex's arm. "Dammit, you two. What happened out there?"

Alex quickly tried to reassure him. "It's fine, Slim. Just a cut, okay? Spence is gonna look at it and play doctor again and then we'll go deal with these bastards." In quick terms, he summed up what had happened. While he did that, Spencer cleaned his arm and looked at the cut. Thankfully it wasn't much. He bandaged and wrapped it before taping the wrapping closed. When that was done, he took a minute for himself to get his arm back into the sling, trying not to face the other two as he did, letting them talk about what they needed to do next. Spencer let them talk. He knew what needed to be done next. These two were brilliant men and fantastic tacticians, but Spencer was a profiler and he'd worked with some of the most brilliant minds in the BAU as well as working with a man who pretty much wrote the interrogation handbook. He was also married to one hell of a devious bastard who wasn't at all shy about sharing his opinions on cases or how he'd done his own interrogations a time or two. Still, Spencer knew making suggestions wouldn't work. These two still mostly thought of him as their baby brother. So he let them plan and just quietly moved over, taking a moment to check Scott's wounds.

Those had Spencer's worry growing a little more. There was redness and heat around both of them now and a feel at Scott's skin told him his brother had a temperature, despite the way Spencer saw him shiver. Shit. Infection was setting in. They needed to do something for him soon.

After closing the bandages again, Spencer casually took the gun Scott had set on the ground, using their conversation as a distraction. They were having a furious, whispered argument now about how best to question their captives and they didn't even notice Spencer backing away and going toward the medical bags. Over there, he took a second to strengthen himself and to gather his composure—holy _shit_ his arm was throbbing!—before he grabbed a bottle of water, rose to his feet and slipped out of the stall.

He checked each stall, finding two of the men still unconscious. Luck of all luck, the one in the last one looked like he was waking up. It was the guy who'd had the knives, to which Spencer was grateful. The other two had the look of simple goons, soldiers. This guy here, he'd be the head. This was where the information would lie. Before going in, Spencer grabbed the rope that was still on the ground. He carried it into the stall with him, stopping at the entrance to hook the gun in the front of his pants. Then he walked over and squatted by the guy. Then Spencer did his very best to channel a little bit of Remy and he started to hum to himself, a lighthearted tune, as he wrapped one end of the rope around the guy's thigh, looping it a couple times. Alex had tied the men the same way. Hands tied tightly behind their backs and linked down to their ankles, which were also tightly tied together. Not the best, but effective.

By the time Spencer had the rope wrapped—he didn't bother tying it off, there was no need for what he was going to use it for—the man was awake. Spencer gave him a big grin as he saw the man's eyes lift and lock on him. "Oh, good. You're awake." Keeping the rope held with the hand in the sling, he used his other to reach out and grab his captive's shirt, using that to haul him off his side and up onto his knees, the only position he could be in. When he had him there, Spencer patted his back. "I'm glad I didn't have to wake you. That's never very much fun. And, well, this saves time."

He made himself move as casually as possible to the corner of the stall where he could hook a dirty looking old crate and scoot it over. Before taking a seat, he pulled the gun out of the front of his pants. Then he sat down and looked at his prisoner, smiling at the man. A smile in a situation like this generally had the effect of worrying the suspect even more. No one wanted someone holding a gun to smile at them. There was just something disconcerting about it. "Well now, I thought you and I could have a little chat. You know, talk about a few things. Maybe get some of this figured out. What do you think?"

It didn't surprise him when the man spit on the ground and stayed absolutely silent. Spencer had been expecting something along those lines. With a deep breath, he prepared himself to play a part. Smile still in place, he shook his head. "See, I thought you might feel that way. That's why I set up a little incentive." He raised the gun and used it to gesture at the rope. "Now, I figure you're the smart one out of your little trio. So you've probably already figured out that I have a special affinity for electricity. I assume that's why you have no electronics with you. Smart of you, really. One of the few smart things you've done so far. But that's far off the point."

A light blue light started to build around Spencer's hand. Faint, but there. He carefully controlled the power, letting it slide over his hand and over the beginning of the rope. It satisfied him to see the man's eyes widen slightly and fixate on that light as it moved inch by inch down the rope and toward him. "I've had a lot of practice with this, you know. I can jolt you, or just give you a little buzz, or I can make it powerful enough to stop your heart. Have you ever been hit by a Taser before? Or been electrocuted by an outlet or your car? I hear it's not pleasant. Not that I would know, of course. And, stopping your heart doesn't mean that the pain would be over that quickly, if you're looking for a fast death."

The light was about halfway down the rope now and Spencer could see the man's eyes getting wider and wider. He felt his fear and gave it a little _nudge_ , using his empathy in a way typically would never do. He made the man's fear grow just enough to help his cause.

"I can even use it to restart your heart if I want. Meaning I can bring you back…over, and over, and over. It might be fun to play a little, even. I've always wondered if I have enough control to manipulate the electrical impulses inside a person's brain but I haven't tested it for fear of causing brain damage. It would be interesting to test it now." Abruptly the light on the rope stopped just inches shy of his leg. "Or," Slowly, Spencer drew the light backwards some, back toward himself. "You could answer a few, simple questions for me and maybe, just maybe, we can work something out. But, I warn you, I've got a few other— _quirks_ up by sleeve. I'll know if you lie to me. So, let's try this again. We'll even start with something simple. What's your name?"

The stall stayed quiet and for a second Spencer thought he might actually have to follow through with his threat. He pushed a little more at the man's fear and he let the light start to travel back over the rope, back toward the man. There was a pulse of fear that rolled off of him and then something else flashed and Spencer knew he'd won. "Mac." The man spat out.

Spencer grinned and pulled the light back to himself, drawing it into his hand first and then letting it fade away. "Nice to meet you, Mac. See, this is great. We're building a friendship already." Settling back on the box, Spencer cocked his head and gave another smile, trying to ignore the feel of Alex moving down the row toward him. _Please don't let him interrupt this!_ "So, Mac, how about we keep this simple for a little longer and you tell me what exactly your plan was if you found us here in the barn."

Mac stared at the rope and Spencer could feel his emotions racing as he tried to decide what to do. He looked around before looking back at Spencer once more. "Listen, this is nothing personal, man. A job's a job. The dude told us to come in here and wipe everyone out. Like I said, it was nothing personal…"

"Nothing personal?" Spencer cut him off. He gave a fake laugh and shook his head. "I really suggest you not try that route, Mac. I tend to take it a little personally when someone comes to kill me and I most definitely take it personally when someone tries to kill my brothers. Now, answer my questions without the pathetic pleas and I might not make this extremely personal for you." Lifting the gun, he pointed it at the man's leg. "Do we understand one another?"

"Wait, brothers? They're your brothers?"

That question and the honest surprise behind it was enough to have Spencer going still on the inside. Just barely he managed to keep his composure on the outside. "Yeah, brothers. I take it your boss didn't tell you that part?" Lowering the gun, he fixed Mac with a steady glare. "Why don't you tell me what exactly your orders were, Mac?" Again, he nudged with his empathy, using it to manipulate the man's emotions enough to get him talking. It worked.

"Listen, man, we were just paid a shitload of cash to take out the Summers brothers. He gave us the information on the two and told us that they'd be on a plane. No one was supposed to survive the crash and then there was all that lightning and the explosion. A few of my guys are laid up from that! We weren't told nothing about no third Summers brother."

"Man, you guys really need to do your research." He shook his head again and laughed. These idiots hadn't even known he existed! "I don't know if I should be offended or not that I don't even pop up on some psychopath's radar. Who's your boss, Mac? I think maybe this is something I should take up with him."

"I, I don't…."

A light appeared on the rope again, moving much quicker than last time, sliding down it and toward Mac. The man saw it and tried to scurry back, as if that would help. "Okay, okay!" he cried out when it got close. The light froze and stayed there, obviously waiting. "His name's Green. Thorne Green. I don't know the details, man. He just said they took something of his and they had to pay. That's all I know, I swear! Please, please, don't…"

It made Spencer sick inside to see what he was doing to this person. Bad guy or not, using his powers to manipulate the man's emotions this way left him feeling like he was violating the man horribly. He _was_ violating him. This, in a sense, was like an emotional rape. The urge to throw up grew stronger. Still, he had work to do. He wasn't going to come this far and not get all his information. "Calm down, Mac. We're just having a conversation here, right? And I've only got a few more questions. First off, how many more men are out there?"

"None!" Mac answered quickly. When Spencer cocked his head and pushed that light forward again, the man starting trying to scoot back again. "I called for backup. They should be here in an hour, tops. That it!"

There was a feel to Mac now; his fear was growing too strong. If Spencer pushed him any harder right now, he'd break the man's mind. His touch was a little too clumsy at the moment. Right now he'd get nothing more out of him. If they needed more information, they'd have to speak to the others. With a breath, Spencer changed his charge, letting it go forward on the rope and zapping the man before he had a chance to even get the breath for a scream. It was just enough of a jolt to knock him out. Done with that, Spencer yanked on his rope, letting it unwind from the man's leg. Then he stood up carefully, pulling the rope with him. His mind was racing with new information. Thorne Green.

A check with his empathy showed that muzzy, almost blank feeling that came with unconsciousness from all three of the captives. Good. He adjusted the rope on his arm as he stepped out of the stall. "We need to talk, now." He told Alex as he started to make his way down to where Scott was. "Did you hear what he said in there? We've got to plan our next moves and quickly if we've only got one hour before backup arrives. I don't trust to simply stay here and let them find us the way that these three did. Who knows how many are coming?"

"You're damn right we gotta talk." Alex growled out at him. He put his hand on Spencer's shoulder and practically shoved him into the stall. "How about you start with what the hell that was back there?"

Spencer cast a look toward the stalls that held the men, grateful that Alex's growl was low enough it seemed to have not woke any of them. Then he turned his eyes back to his brother, steadfastly avoiding looking down toward Scott. He could feel his eldest brother's disapproval clearly enough. "That was me getting information. I got us answers, didn't I? The how isn't important right now, Alex. We should focus on what _is_. Like who is Thorne Green and what did you two take from him?"

Neither one of them showed any reaction to the name. "I don't know." Scott said after a moment. "The name doesn't sound familiar. Neither of you recognize it?"

"We can argue that shit later. Right now shouldn't we be figuring out where the fuck to go before reinforcements gets here?" Alex demanded.

Despite the seriousness of the moment, Scott and Spencer exchanged a look before turning to Alex, raising their eyebrows simultaneously. "The world must be coming to an end." Scott said dryly. "Alex is the voice of reason."

Alex rolled his eyes at him and flipped them both off. "Fuck off, gasbags."

"Gasbags?" Spencer spluttered out. "Seriously, Alexander? Did you just call us gasbags?"

Before that could progress into a full scale argument, Scott held a hand up and snapped his fingers at them. "Focus!" He waited until they turned toward him to sigh and shake his head a little. "There, the world is back to normal. You two are bickering over idiotic things again." His tone was practically dripping with sarcasm. "Now, we need to build a plan. Either of you numbskulls have any bright ideas? Now would be the time to speak up."


End file.
